In my dream I put my backpack down next to the vendor’s stand and when I come back across the street he has packed up and vanished into a doorway, taking it with him. In quiet panic I track him through an office building and retrieve it.

In my dream I’m playing bass in a band on an arena stage, which is mostly jamming on one chord for twenty minutes until we are all playing “The Big Rock Candy Mountain”. The crowd loves us.

In my dream I piss in a small crock in the corner, daintily.

In my dream the five of us have dinner in the night food court and our affection continues even into the way we talk about it later on.

In my dream I decide that I don’t have to install my shrine on the street where the various elements can be pinched and instead can put it upstairs in the apartment during the award show.

In my dream there is a feeling of rounded quiet.

In my dream the other world is just that little bit softer and more comforting: a bunch of us are in the rear section of the theatre where I plan to sleep tucked into three velvet seats. The food is good and when I go to grab a movie poster off of the wall, my guide hands it to me, already rolled up.

In my dream I’m teaching a room full of students how to hang work while one tries to demonstrate how far beyond this particular lesson they are by rolling their eyes and scoffing.

In my dream he’s heading back to England and I’m almost in tears.

In my dream the red indicates a closing circle.

In my dream M staffs the counter in the dim antique shop. One of the crowded trays holds a gaudy red fountain pen and a straight razor shaped like a woman’s leg, for shaving moustaches.

In my dream it’s early evening and the building is rounded.

In my dream, disgusted with the arrival of several bratty younger wizards, I climb the stairs through the building, turning until I push onto the roof where clusters of people of color talk nervously. I gather the cardboard shields and think about the office.